Mobo for Ms Dynamite brother Akala - Sept 21, 2006
The 22-year-old north London rapper Akala has followed in the footsteps of his older sister, Ms Dynamite, by bagging a Mobo award.

Akala, real-name Kingslee Daley, took the prize for Best Hip Hop at the ceremony. His win comes just four months after the release of his acclaimed album, It’s Not A Rumour.

Akala tackles everything from the Iraq war and gun culture to the congestion charge and his troubled childhood with his rock-infused rap.

He has criticised "dull" hip-hop and rails against today’s rap as being "for plastic players with false values and arid imaginations, who know the price of bling but the value of nothing" on his website.

Akala beat more established names like Busta Rhymes and US star Kanye West to the title at the ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall. Ms Dynamite won three Mobo (Music of Black Origin) Awards in 2002.

Singer Corinne Bailey Ray, 27, whose song Put Your Records On has been a huge success, was another winner, taking two prizes for Best UK Female and Best UK Newcomer.

The former choirgirl from Leeds, one of the few British acts to have broken into the US market, beat names like Beverley Knight and Jamelia to Best UK Female.

In past years the awards have been criticised for favouring US artists and it was US R&B star Beyonce who took the most gongs. She won a hat-trick for Best International Female, as well as Best Song and Best Video for the track Deja Vu featuring Jay Z.

Other US winners were the Black Eyed Peas for Best Group, beating the likes of Gnarls Barkley, OutKast, the Pussycat Dolls and the Streets, while Best International Male went to Jay Z. In the reggae category, Sean Paul beat Damian Marley, son of Bob, who was tipped for victory.

The concert was broadcast live on BBC Three for the first time and featured performances from last year’s big winner Lemar, who picked up the award for Best UK Male.

Biography
Born Kingslee Daley in London to a Scottish mother and Caribbean father, Akala has so far been best known as the little brother of Ms Dynamite.  He has yet to reach the top 40, however his debut It’s Not A Rumour has seen him garner widespread acclaim and bag a MOBO award in to the bargain.

On a mission to take hip hop back to it’s roots away from people who ’know the price of bling but the value of nothing’, Akala namechecks Curtis Mayfield, Jay-Z, Naughty by Nature and Red Hot Chilli Peppers as influences for his recent work.